Alexandre Alexeieff

The Pinscreen is a tool that was created in the 1930s to make animation films. Although it no longer provides any technical advantages, a handful of animation directors still use it. This film explores why it is so important to create something handmade with constraints, in a time when everything is turning towards instantaneous digital technology.

This documentary is a portrait of the animator of Le Paysagiste, from his childhood in Eastern Quebec to his career at the NFB. Trained at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), Drouin became in some ways the heir to Alexandre Alexeïeff when he began working with the Alexeïeff-Parker pinhole screen in 1974. Recounting his relationship with the filmmaker and inventor, coming back with lucidity and precision on the whole of his own filmography, Jacques Drouin delivers here a precious testimony on creation. Enriched with numerous excerpts and unpublished images from the filmmaker's personal archives, Jacques Drouin en relief is both the adventure of a lifetime and a valuable lesson in cinema.

Pinscreen animation makes use of a screen filled with movable pins, which can be moved in or out by pressing an object onto the screen. The screen is lit from the side so that the pins cast shadows.

The last film made by Alexander Alexeieff and Claire Parker. Trois thèmes was made on the pinscreen, and first shown in Milan, Italy, in March 1980. It was based on three works by Mussorgsky.

An animated short film by Alexandre Alexeieff.

An advertisement for Davros brand cigarettes.

The last film made by Alexander Alexeieff and Claire Parker. Trois thèmes was made on the pinscreen, and first shown in Milan, Italy, in March 1980. It was based on three works by Mussorgsky.

The last film made by Alexander Alexeieff and Claire Parker. Trois thèmes was made on the pinscreen, and first shown in Milan, Italy, in March 1980. It was based on three works by Mussorgsky.

An animated short film by Alexandre Alexeieff.

An advertisement for Davros brand cigarettes.

An abstract animation made for Osram.

Based on Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. This film used two pinscreens. In front of the main pinscreen, they installed a second, smaller one. This second pinscreen could be rotated thus giving more of an illusion of three-dimensionality

An abstract animation made for Cocinor.

Advertising of the peanut oil of Rufisque conditioned in the big oil factory of Bordeaux for the brand Huilor.

An advertisement for Franck Aroma brand coffee.

Advertising of the Simon cream.

A study in pins of a man who loses his nose which becomes a personality in its own right.

Experiments with composite pendulums; study of variations in pendulum measurements resulting from changes in physical parameters such as frequency or the size and shape of the solid objects.

Animated film made as a commercial for Esso, an oil and lubricant company.

Pinscreen animation short made for the NFB's "Chants populaires" series of French-Canadian folk songs. En Passant illustrates the song "Et moi je m'enfouiyais."

An advertisement for Lingner brand Toilet Paper.

Alexandre Alexeïeff illustrated the song "Et moi je m'enfouiyais" (En passant) using the pinscreen technique. Norman McLaren illustrated "C'est l'aviron" using drawings on a fixed background, with the characters pasted in as they were drawn.

Mussorgsky's composition is the soundtrack for this pin-screen animated take on night and wild things. A scarecrow blows down, clouds move by quickly. Beings take shape; a town appears, animals flee, and a horse gallops by. A child looks on. Monsters run and float by: the phantasmagoric is everywhere. A woman's figure tumbles through space. A clash ensues. The horse falls. Goblins take control. The night and its denizens are relentless. Forms appear and become grotesque. Will dawn and calm ever come?

An animation made for Radio Löwe

An advertisement for Evian brand mineral water.

An advertisement for Jaffa brand oranges.

A lyrical composition of sculptural fragments of the body is celebrated for its precise framing, editing and animation techniques that explores the connections between abstract shapes, sensuality, and erotic attraction.

An advertisement for Creme Simon brand cosmetics.

An advertisement for Gaine Roussel brand lingerie.

On the making of the film En passant: wide shots of several sequences from the film on the new pinscreen built by the authors in 1942, during their exile in the United States from 1940 to 1947.

An advertisement for Cenra brand Wrapping Paper.

An advertisement for Sigrand brand Menswear.

An advertisement for Nestor Martin's foundry.

Alexandre Alexeieff and wife Claire Parker demonstrate and comment on animation techniques used to create illustrations for books like Zhivago and films such as The Nose and Night on Bald Mountain.

An advertisement for Levitan brand furniture.

This retelling of Sleeping Beauty, recreated through stop motion animation, is centered on lithe Prince Charming, who leaps and bounds through our storybook set. Film commissioned by a wine company.

Cigarette advertisement

An advertisement made for Balatum brand linoleum.

No synopsis available yet.

An advertisement for Creme Simon brand cosmetics.

An advertisement for Huilor brand Cooking oil.

A hat advertisement for Sools by animators Claire Parker and Alexandre Alexeieff.

An advertisement for Creme Simon brand cosmetics.